Adapter connector

ABSTRACT

Herein described is an adapter connector for use in connecting a reserve gas supply into a gas system. The connector includes a hollow chamber being threaded on both ends. One end of the chamber is adapted to engage the spud nut on a pressure regulator in the gas system. The other end of the chamber is adapted to directly engage the reserve tank cylinder. A wall partitions the chamber and has a threaded opening therein to receive a protruding valve engaging finger which is a cylindrical hollow member threaded into the opening in the wall. The finger is adapted to engage a needle valve in a valve stem disposed within the reserve tank.

United States Patent [1 1 Gramig 51 May 8, 1973 [54] ADAPTER CONNECTORHarry A. Gramig, Culver City, Calif.

[75] Inventor:

[52] U.S. Cl. ..l4l/384, 137/233, 251/149.4 [51] Int. Cl. ..B6Sh 1/04,B65i 3/04, B67c 3/00 [58] Field of Search ..l41/348, 349, 384,

3,154,050 10/1964 Hanson ..l41/349 3,035,617 5/1962 Breitenstein..l41/349 3,024,044 3/1962 Beneveto ..l41/349 2,925,103 2/1960 Kerr eta1. ..l4l/349 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,252,443 12/1960 FrancePrimary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr. AttorneyVictor Sepulveda [57]ABSTRACT Herein described is an adapter connector for use in connectinga reserve gas supply into a gas system. The connector includes a hollowchamber being threaded on both ends. One end of the chamber is adaptedto engage the spud nut on a pressure regulator in the gas system. Theother end of the chamber is adapted to directly engage the reserve tankcylinder. A wall partitions the chamber and has a threaded openingtherein to receive a protruding valve engaging finger which is acylindrical hollow member threaded into the opening in the wall. Thefinger is adapted to engage a needle valve in avalve stem disposedwithin the reserve tank.

8 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures FIG. m

D f INVENTOR.

TTORNEY ADAPTER CONNECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention:

This invention relates to adapters for coupling conduits and moreparticularly to an adapter connector which is adapted to connect areserve tank into a pressure regulator or the like of a gas system.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art:

Mobile units, such as mobile homes, campers, camp trailers etc., have afuel system therein which operates from a gas tank which burns butane orpropane or the like for heating and cooking inside the living quartersof the mobile unit. Heretofore, it has also been necessary to providetwo tanks positioned somewhere on the trailer so that if a tank becomesempty, the other tank is coupled into the system. Thereafter, the useris aware that one tank is empty and must have it refilled in due course.Of course, this is always inconvenient because of the fact that twolarge tanks must always be carried and whereby such large supplies aregenerally unnecessary when used on weekend camping trips and other shorttrips etc. The use of two tanks is also incon' venient because it takesup an unneeded amount of space and should for example, the user forgetthat one tank was empty, the inconvenience caused by lack of fuel forcooking and heating is sometimes very uncomfortable.

If two tanks are used and both tanks become empty, :1 need has arisenfor a quick small reserve supply of gas to be provided to the fuelsystem. It would also be very convenient to use only a single tank and asmall reserve be readily available to provide only a few hours of fueluntil arrangements can be made to have the fuel tank filled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes thedifficulties provided and discussed .in the foregoing paragraphs.Briefly described, the present invention includes a cylindrical hollowmember which includes a nut area on the outside thereof for threadinginto and out of a regulator and a reserve tank. The cylinder is hollowon either end thereof and is divided by a wall which has a threadedopening therein. One side of the wall has a concave depression thereinand the other side is adapted to threadably receive a valve engagingmember which is substantially elongated and protrudes from the end ofthe cylinder.

A reserve tank which is capable of holding a small amount of fuel suchas the aforementioned propane or butane is readily available on themarket which include an extending collar that is threaded on one end andhas a valve core disposed therein which is in communication with theinside of the tank. The valve core is the type well known to thoseskilled in the art which includes a needle valve, that when engaged inthe inside thereof, opens the valve and communicates the fluid to theoutside of the core. The adapter threads are adapted to engage theextending collar of the reserve tank and when the extending collarengages the needle valve, the fluid is communicated to the opening inthe wall of the valve and out the other end of the collar. This otherend of the collar is threadably engaged into the pressure regulator of afuel tank and thereby communicating the gas into the pressure regulator.

In accordance with the present invention, it is now possible to readilyadapt a small fuel supply reserve tank into the gas system by simplyscrewing on the adapter and the reserve bottle when the other regularsupply tank becomes empty.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken intoconsideration with the following detailed description wherein likereference numerals indicate like and corresponding parts throughout theseveral views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a reserve tank coupled into apressure regulator using the adapter in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a section view taken along the lines 22 of FIG. 3 showing theinternal structure of the connector adapter;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the adapter connector in accordance with thisinvention;

FIG. 4 is a section view similar to that shown in FIG. 2 except with thevalve engaging collar removed;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 2 showing theinternal structure of the valve engaging collar;

FIG. 6=is an end view of the connector adapter taken along the lines6--6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a section view of the top of a reserve tank illustrating thevalve core thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 1illustrating the reserve supply directly coupled to the gas system.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to a more detaileddescription of but one preferred embodiment of this invention andparticularly to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a reserve tank 10which is connected into a pressure regulator 12 through an adapterconnector 14. The reserve tank 10 is the type which is used for holdinga small supply of pressurized gas, such as propane or butane and is inthe neighborhood of I or 2 pound containers. The container 10 is in theform of a cylindrical bottle which is substantially tapered to form aneck 11 and has a fitting 16 on one end thereof which is threaded toreceive the adapter connector 14. The fitting 16 has a valve therein andwill be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The pressure regulator 12 is the type which regulates the pressure fromthe inlet end 18 through the outlet end 20. The outlet 20 is connectedto the fuel system and preferably the type of fuel system contained in amobile home or camper. The inlet end 18 of pressure regulator 12includes a spud nut 22 which is shown and described in more detail withreference to FIG. 4. The spud nut 22 is adapted to be threaded directlyinto the adapter connector 14 as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 2 is a section view illustrating the internal structure of theconnector 14. The connector 14 is generally cylindrical in shape at end24 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. A nut end 26 is formed on the other end sothat a suitable wrench may be coupled thereto for screwing the adapterconnector 14 into the spud nut 22 in a suitable manner. Each end of theconnector .14 has threads 28 and 30 thereon, with threads 28 being atcylindrical end 24 and threads 30 being atnut end .26. Generally thethreads on end 28 are in a reverse direction, that is left hand threadsbecause as a general policy and for safety purposes, the spud nut 22 onregulator 12 is also of left hand threads. The threads 30 are right handthreads which are the type which are normally provided on the connectionend 16 of the reserve tank 10. It should be understood that thedirection of the threads have no bearing on this invention other than toshow a single operative embodiment.

The connector 14 which is substantially hollow is divided into twoportions by a wall area 32. The wall 32 is typically formed in thecylindrical section of the connector 14 in a suitable manner. Forexample, wall 32 may be cast therein when the original part is formed orcan be machined therein in the manner well known to those skilled in theart. As shown in FIG. 4, the wall 32 has a threaded opening 34 thereinwhich communicates between the two portions of the cylindrical connector14. A protruding collar 36 is formed on the wall 32 on theinsidethereof. The other end of wall 32 has a depression 38 therein which isconcave and somewhat frustro-conical shaped which leads into a largeropening 40 which in turn leads into the threaded opening 34. The shapeof the depression 38 in wall 32 is tapered in such a manner wherein itfits the conical end 42 of spud nut 22. When the spud nut 22 is tightlythreaded into the threads 28 of end 24, the conical end 42 virtuallyseals against the depression 38 in the wall 32.

With reference again to FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, a valve engaging finger 44 isprovided and has threads 46 on one end thereof, which are adapted toengage the threads in opening 34. The finger 44 is generally cylindricalin shape and includes a nut 48 thereon which is used to facilitate thethreading of the threads 46 into the opening 34. A somewhat largercollar 50 is provided between the nut end 48 and the threaded end 46 toengage a washer 52 positioned between the collar 50 on the finger 44 andthe collar 36 on the wall 32. A resilient washer 52 which may becomprised of cork or rubber or the like, is positioned within therecessed area 56 between the walls of the cylindrical 14 and theprotruding collar 36. The washers 52 and 54 are used to effectively sealthe fitting in a manner yet to be described.

The valve engaging finger 44 has an opening 54 therethrough and has asmaller orifice end 57 which exits from the finger 44. A slot 58 isprovided along the top of the finger 44 and communicates with theorifice end 57 in opening 54. This slot is used to prevent blocking ofthe opening of the small orifice 56.

With reference now to FIG. 7, there is shown the typical connection end16 of the reserve tank 10. The connection end 16 protrudes outwardlyfrom the tank and includes a valve 60 therein. Valve 60 is the typewhich includes a plunger 62 which releases a seal 64 when the plunger 62is pushed inwardly against a spring 66 which is disposed between theseal 64 and a stop 68. The valve comprises of a elongated hollowcylindrical collar '70 which engage an orifice 72 leading intocommunication with the fuel within the tank 10. The fuel is allowed toescape from the tank 10 through the collar 70 when the plunger 62 isdepressed.

When the permanent fuel tank in the supply system becomes empty, thespud nut 22 is disconnected from the permanent tank and the adapterconnector 14 'is threaded thereon, whereby the threads 28 of the end 24engage the spud nut 22. As previously stated the spud nut 22 and thethreads 28 are normally comprised of left hand threads for safetypurposes. Thereafter, the reserve tank 10 is threaded thereon into thethreads 30 of the adapter connector 14. The elongated finger 44 is thendisposed inside the collar of the valve 60 and depresses the plungertherein so that fuel will fill the entire chamber of the connector 14and be forced into the opening 58 and through the hollow portion 54 tocommunicate with the inside of the regulator 12. The purpose of the slot58 across the top is to assure that the plunger 62 does not seal off theorifice end 56. The completely engaged connector 14 with the fitting 16and the spud nut 22 is shown in FIG. 8.

The reserve tank will be used for only a short period of time until theregular tank is again refilled. The convenience of having the fitting 14of the reserve tank 10 available is that a number of these reserve tanks10 can be purchased and refilled or traded for full tank 10 for anominal cost and be readily available for emergency purposes. These canbe easily stored in any small place and it would be convenient thereforeto have two or three of these reserve tanks 10 readily available in themobile unit.

Having thus described one preferred embodiment of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. A connector for providing reserve fuel to a fuel system which has apressure regulator with a spud nut connected thereto;

a reserve fuel container, having a threaded valve connection and aplunger valve; hollow member on one end thereof and being adapted tothreadably engage the valve connection on said reserve fuel containerand the other end being adapted to threadably engage the spud nut ofsaid pressure regulator;

a wall in said hollow member dividing said hollow member and having athreaded opening therethrough; and

a valve actuating member threadably mounted into the opening in the wallin said hollow member, said member being substantially elongated andcylindrical and having a hollow orifice therethrough and being adaptedto open the plunger valve in said reserve fuel container when one end ofsaid member being threadably engaged in the valve connection in saidfuel container.

2. The connector as defined in claim 1 and including a nut portion onthe outside of the hollow member.

3. The connector as defined in claim 1 and further ineluding afrustro-conical depression in the wall thereof the apex of which isjuxtaposed with the opening in said wall to receive the frustro-conicalportion of said spud nut.

4. The connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the threaded portionwithin said one end of said hollow member having left hand threadsthereon.

5. The connector as defined in claim 1 wherein said valve actuatingmember includes a smaller orifice on the end which engages said plungerof said plunger valve.

6. A connector for coupling a reserve fuel tank to a fuel system whichhas a regulator and a spud nut connected thereto, said spud nut being ofthe type which includes a frustro-conical end member, said reserve fueltank having a protruding hollow collar which has external threadsthereon, and a plunger valve disposed within said protruding collar ofthe type which opens when depressed, said connector comprising:

a housing member having a first internally threaded bore on one end ofsaid housing which engage the threads on the reserve fuel tank and asecond internally threaded bore on the other end thereof which engagesaid spud nut, said member including a central wall between each borehaving an opening therethrough substantially centrally spaced in saidwall;

a substantially elongated hollow valve actuating member mounted in theopening in said wall extending from said first bore in said housing toopen said plunger valve when said connector is coupled to said reservefuel tank; and

a frustro-conical depression in said second bore which mate with thefrustro-conical end member of said spud nut when said second bore isthreaded thereon.

7. The connector as defined in claim 6 wherein said valve actuatingmember is threadably engaged into the opening in said central portion.

8. The connector as defined in claim 6 and further including:

1. A connector for providing reserve fuel to a fuel system which has apressure regulator with a spud nut connected thereto; a reserve fuelcontainer, having a threaded valve connection and a plunger valve; ahollow member on one end thereof and being adapted to threadably engagethe valve connection on said reserve fuel container and the other endbeing adapted to threadably engage the spud nut of said pressureregulator; a wall in said hollow member dividing said hollow member andhaving a threaded opening therethrough; and a valve actuating memberthreadably mounted into the opening in the wall in said hollow member,said member being substantially elongated and cylindrical and having ahollow orifice therethrough and being adapted to open the plunger valvein said reserve fuel container when one end of said member beingthreadably engaged in the valve connection in said fuel container. 2.The connector as defined in claim 1 and including a nut portion on theoutside of the hollow member.
 3. The connector as defined in claim 1 andfurther including a frustro-conical depression in the wall thereof theapex of which is juxtaposed with the opening in said wall to receive thefrustro-conical portion of said spud nut.
 4. The connector as defined inclaim 1 wherein the threaded portion within said one end of said hollowmember having left hand threads thereon.
 5. The connector as defined inclaim 1 wherein said valve actuating member includes a smaller orificeon the end which engages said plunger of said plunger valve.
 6. Aconnector for coupling a reserve fuel tank to a fuel system which has aregulator and a spud nut connected thereto, said spud nut being of thetype which includes a frustro-conical end member, said reserve fuel tankhaving a protruding hollow collar which has external threads thereon,and a plunger valve disposed within said protruding collar of the typewhich opens when depressed, said connector comprising: a housing memberhaving a first internally threaded bore on one end of said housing whichengage the threads on the reserve fuel tank and a second internallythreaded bore on the other end thereof which engage said spud nut, saidmember including a central wall between each bore having an openingtherethrough substantially centrally spaced in said wall; asubstantially elongated hollow valve actuating member mounted in theopening in said wall extending from said first bore in said housing toopen said plunger valve when said connector is coupled to said reservefuel tank; and a frustro-conical depression in said second bore whichmate with the frustro-conical end member of said spud nut when saidsecond bore is threaded thereon.
 7. The connector as defined in claim 6wherein said valve actuating member is threadably engaged into theopening in said central portion.
 8. The connector as defined in claim 6and further including: a collar disposed around the opening in saidfirst bore of said central wall in said housing member; and a sealinggasket disposed around said collar and against said central wall to sealsaid protruding collar on said reserve fuel tank against said centralwall when said housing is threaded thereon.